Indian Fukushima possible: Gopal Gandhi

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Updated: Nov 07, 2011 10:57 IST

As protests over the Koodankulam nuclear plant refuse to die down, former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Monday said an "Indian Fukushima" cannot be ruled out and government needs to convince people about safety aspects of the proejct.

"There have been over 20 earthquakes in September alone in different parts of the country. Safety of a nuclear reactor can never be proved or disproved as nature is unpredictable," Gopal Gandhi said.

"Whatever measures we take, we can't say for sure what happened in Japan would not happen in India," the former governor said delivering a lecture on 'India 2021- Hazarding Guesses, Guessing Hazards' in New Delhi.

Before continuing with the Koodankulam project, the government needs to first convince the people that the human factor has been taken into consideration, he said.

"Nature is not the only factor we need to take into consideration. Terror is another challenge to nuclear projects in the country," said Gandhi, also a former diplomat and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. He said there was a need for a rethink about the nuclear sector.

Talking about Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement, Gandhi said the social activist had won the support of thousands of youngsters as they were "disillusioned" with the government.

"Youngsters are disillusioned. They want change. They want a new face, a new leadership. In the 2014 and 2019 elections, these people will pose a huge challenge to our crorepati MPs and MLAs," he said.